I would agree with those who believe in the moral neutrality of musical genres. God or the devil can be glorified by classical music, depending on whether it is produced and enjoyed by hearts that prize God or hearts that prize human achievement or self-reliance. And although much of the rap music culture is filled with sex and violence, the musical style itself does not necessarily engender such sinful expression. I once read an outstanding article on this subject by Dr. Harold Best, Dean of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. It described how a man ran out of a church service after hearing the prelude of the organist. He ran out because that was the exact piece of music used in a satanic ritual of which he took part prior to being marvelous won to Christ. The music? A piece of classical music by J.S. Bach (a Christian). I forgot the details of the article, but I never forgot the point. A style of music that feels worshipful to me may not necessarily encourage or edify another person. I am told that Dr. Best discusses this in his book Music Through the Eyes of Faith. (Note: This does not mean that all songs are created equal. God-centered, theologically-rich lyrics and quality within a musical genre are both important, in my opinion.)
With that as introduction, I want to join those who are commending the music of Curtis Allen, who goes by the name Voice. I have really enjoyed listening to his CD Progression. His songs are theologically rich and have catchy phrases and beats — even for someone like me, who really never enjoyed rap music. Curtis describes his project Progression in this way:
Progression is an album that I wanted to make that I considered to be a “Very Human” album. Sometimes Christian music can lack the everyday struggle of the Christian or can easily gloss over the problem and go right to the solution, but that is not always the case in real life situations. Sometimes we doubt God’s Sovereignty, and I wanted to capture that on the album. It has 14 songs, and the album progresses. So it starts off with faith in Christ and excitement in being like him in the world. Then after a few songs you get to a bit of unbelief and complaints about the very thing you were celebrating in the first few songs. Then in “Contemporary Job,” like the book of Job, God addresses those complaints with His perspective. After that the Christian is refreshed and is ready to again fight sin in “Divide and Conquer” and so forth. So I see Progression as the Christian life in many ways. We all face doubts and encouragement and I wanted to have that element on Progression. (in an interview with Justin Taylor, posted here)
I commend Curtis Allen’s project Progression to you for the edification, relaxation, and worship it can stimulate in your heart.